Japanese business confidence falls: BoJ Tankan

TOKYO: The business confidence of major Japanese manufacturers plunged in December, the Bank of Japan said Thursday, amid growing worries over Europe's debt crisis and a strong yen. Large manufacturers' sentiment in December dropped to "minus four" from positive "two" in September, the central bank's quarterly Tankan survey showed. The figures represent the percentage of companies saying business conditions are good minus those saying conditions are bad. The survey is taken into account by the BoJ when formulating monetary policy. Medium and small-sized firms felt similarly or more significantly pessimistic, the latest survey showed. The fall was worse than market expectations of "minus two", and marked the first drop since the June survey, when large manufacturers' sentiment stood at "minus nine". In the previous survey in September, major firms expressed optimism as Japa...